Kequencer 2.0 is cheaper and easier to build — still awesome

[Rich Decibels] decibels received so much interest in his original sequencer build that he decided to make another one that was a bit easier and less expensive to replicate. The original design, called the Kequencer, featured a nicely finished look for the user interface. For the Keyquencer 2.0 he decided that adding a lid to the enclosure meant not spending quite as much for controls (nice looking knobs tend to increase the cost of potentiometers).

A rectangle of protoboard serves as the panel face for the device. It looks like he painted it black on top so that it doesn’t distract from the neatly organized parts layout. He used point-to-point wiring to make most of the hookups, but he did create a board layout which will help to guide you when the number of wires starts to get out of hand. This was made after the fact and he regrets not having it for the initial build. Check out the demonstration video embedded after the break to hear how the second iteration sounds.

Judging by the schematic, the dip switches enable/disable each of the 8 astable oscillators which are fired in sequence. You can always press the “keys” to play the note whenever and for however long you’d like. You can adjust the frequency of each note, so that’s kind of your sequencing there (coupled with the sequential firing of each note). An audio amp mixes and amplifies everything.

I really like the sound for something so simple. Also painting the protoboard black is a very good idea to polish off the look, and easy to do.